Staff / Times-PicayuneTulane QB Shaun King devastated defenses with his legs and his arm.

Perfection.

Perfection isn't something easily attained, yet the 1998 Tulane football team achieved just such a feat, running the table thanks to an inspired coaching staff and an elite college passer.

Tommy Bowden, the son of legendary coach Bobby Bowden, helped put Tulane football back on the map, thanks in large part to an offense that would take the nation by storm, the spread, and one of its earliest proponents, offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez.

The success of both men since (Bowden at Clemson, Rodriguez at West Virginia and now Michigan) hardly seems a coincidence: That Green Wave offense was impressively potent, and it became a model for countless teams since.

Of course it wasn't all scheme. The team's quarterback, Shaun King, put together one of the greatest individual seasons in Tulane and NCAA history, becoming the first player to reach 3,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing in the same season ... all while achieving the best quarterback rating in NCAA history: 183.3.

The fact that just one team, Louisville, came within even a touchdown of that Tulane team was both a blessing and a curse. For as dominant as the Green Wave was in '98, questions had to eventually rise about the difficulty of the team's schedule (hence the BCS bowl snub at the end of the season).

Tulane Athletic Communications

At the end of the day, it's difficult to know just how good that team really was, as it never got the opportunity to prove itself against a so-called "elite" opponent. We can credit the team for taking care of its business in the Liberty Bowl against BYU to finish 12-0, but we can also wonder just how good that team was ... and whether Tulane would have held up against a Tennessee or Ohio State.

That level of mystery keeps the Green Wave from grabbing the top spot on our list ... but the team's perfect season will always be one of the most impressive benchmarks reached in New Orleans sports history.

Expert Takes:

Trey Iles:

Tulane football was never better than in 1998 when the Green Wave, behind Coach Tommy Bowden and quarterback Shaun King, finished 12-0 and ranked seventh in the nation in the final Associated Press poll. Not only was the season the pinnacle of Tulane football, a new offense was birthed by Bowden and then-offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez -- the spread.

Tulane's offense was the star of the 1998 show with King and Rodriguez driving the bus. King threw for 3,227 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushed for 549 yards and 10 touchdowns in 1998. He had a passing efficiency rating of 183.3, at the time, the best ever in NCAA history.

Tulane completed its season with a 41-27 victory against Brigham Young University in the Liberty Bowl. The one thing Tulane didn't get, however, was a shot in the Bowl Championship Series or a chance to play eventual national champion Tennessee. But that didn't bother Rodriguez, who was asked after the Liberty Bowl if he would have liked a shot at the Vols.